Crema Coffee Roasters

Rachel and Ben Lehman opened this Rutledge Hill cafe in January 2008, starting by serving guest roasters, Drew's Brews and the Texas based Brown Coffee Company, before investing in their own roasting equipment about three years in. Crema is considered one of the shops that helped build Nashville's specialty coffee scene from the ground up, and this downtown flagship remains the original mothership location.

The room seats 25 on its patio and 40 more inside, with free 90 minute parking in an attached lot, though the space deliberately runs no power outlets. Crema has since grown to three locations plus a wholesale roasting operation, and in January 2024 launched its own house coffee line roasted by Methodical Coffee in Greenville, South Carolina.